Women’s Bean Project is a social enterprise that offers wrap-around support to the women they hire. While women are in the program for 7 months, they receive on-the-job training as a production assistant in the food manufacturing business, career services, classroom work that focuses on life skills, and individualized case management. The impact of the program varies woman to woman. However, every woman that graduates moves into a career entry-level job that continues to stabilize her and her family’s life. Here is a brief snapshot of the program:
- Over 1,000 women have been served since 1989.
- 95% of women are employed one year after graduating from the program. This is based on the responses of women from a 12-month follow-up.
- On average, 62 women are hired each year. In 2017, WBP shifted from hiring one cohort each year to hiring five cohorts of women every year.
- Each woman spends 60+ hours in the core curriculum of five classes: Financial Literacy, Computer Literacy, GED Coursework, Dress for Success, and Group Therapeutic Workshops. Women also attend numerous additional programming courses.
- Each woman receives 50+ hours in career services training, working 1-on-1 with a job search coach and attending computer lab and other workshops.
- Each participant receives weekly case management and job coaching.
